Jonah Is Angry at Yahweh’s Compassion

4 And this^[a] was greatly displeasing^[b] to Jonah, and he became furious.^{[c] 2} And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not what I said^[d] while I was in my homeland? Therefore I originally fled^[e] to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and having great steadfast love,^[f] and one who relents concerning calamity.^{[g] 3} And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!” ⁴ And Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”^[h]

⁵ And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, waiting to see^[i] what would happen with the city. ⁶ And Yahweh God appointed a plant,^[j] and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah was very glad^[k] about the plant. ⁷ So God appointed a worm at daybreak^[l] the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. ⁸ And when the sun rose,^[m] God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. And he asked that he could die^[n] and said, “My death is better than my life!” ⁹ So God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry^[o] about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry enough to die!”^[p]

¹⁰ But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. It grew up in a night and it perished in a night!^{[q] 11} And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, in which there are^[r] more than one hundred and twenty thousand^[s] people who do not know right from left,^[t] plus many animals?”